Motivating the Un-Motivatable
Practical ways to help your unmotivated teen develop better study habits
This post was first published on my Substack on 22/2/24
If your teen is suffering from a serious or even complete lack of motivation, I’m here to help them find some.
Having a source of motivation from within is essential for being able to stay on top of school work, start assignments and exam study on time, and for having the stamina to get through exams.
So the goal this month — Motivation Month here at Cram Lab — is to help your teen find their source of motivation. What’s going to get their coal fires burning? What’s going to push them along through what might feel like an endless sea of study and exams?
But let’s hold our horses, because firstly, we need to stop and ask — WHY is your teen unmotivated?
Because in order to find lasting motivation, we have to treat the cause of your teen’s motivation-itis; not just the symptoms.
What are the most common symptoms of teenage motivation-itis?
Here are the common culprits of teenage motivation-itis:
No post high school plan: They don’t know what they want to do when they leave school — ergo — what’s the point?
They don’t know where to start — this can lead to feeling overwhelmed which is almost always lethal to motivation.
Don’t know how to study: They don’t know how to study in a way that will actually get good results — this means they don’t have any certainty that the study they do will work.
Oftentimes teenagers suffer from all three of these causal factors at the same time!
It’s really important that you and your teen put aside some time to think about what the cause(s) of their motivation-itis is.
And now comes the good news; once you know WHY your teen doesn’t have the motivation they so desperately need, we can do something about it.
Ross displaying a very relatable bout of motivation-itis.
Fixing motivation-itis
Let’s go through the common causes of motivation-itis highlighted above and what you can do about them.
No post high school plan: If this describes your teen, I would work on helping them think about their future. Whether it’s uni, work, a trade, or a gap year, getting decent results is going to help them, but they are the ones who have to realise this.
They don’t know where to start: If your teen doesn’t know where to start, you can help them make a plan. I would start by making a plan for an ordinary school week. Set aside some time (it doesn’t need to be hours and hours) to complete homework, keep on top of assignments, and do a bit of study here and there to make sure they’re keeping on top of what’s happening in class (this is going to make exam study a million times easier).
Don’t know how to study: If your teen doesn’t know how to study effectively for their exams, now’s the time to learn. You can start by heading to the Start Here tab in the navigation bar.
I’ve never met a teen that can’t be motivated to study or at least try harder and do better at school once they better understand what’s holding them back, and once they have some kind of study plan in place.
Being a motivated student shouldn’t be the sole domain of ‘top’ students. There are many different reasons to be motivated about doing well at school. The trick is, your teen needs to find their own reasons, not yours and not someone else’s.
So, how is your teen going in the motivation department? Are they struggling to study consistently? Do they know what’s holding them back? What’s going to get their coal fires burning? Let’s talk it out in the comments.
Clare x
